Security News > 2022 > August > Former Twitter Employee Found Guilty of Spying for Saudi Arabia

A former Twitter employee has been pronounced guilty for his role in digging up private information pertaining to certain Twitter users and turning over that data to Saudi Arabia.

Ahmad Abouammo, 44, was convicted by a jury after a two-week trial in San Francisco federal court, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

The verdict comes nearly three years after Abouammo, along with Ali Alzabarah and Ahmed Almutairi were indicted in 2019 for acting as "Illegal agents" of Saudi Arabia, with the former also charged with destroying, altering, and falsifying records in a federal investigation.

Prosecutors accused Abouammo and Alzabarah, both of whom joined Twitter in 2013, of being enlisted by officials of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for unmasking its critics on the social media platform.

While Alzabarah sought assistance from Almutairi to flee the U.S. in December 2015 and escape the trial, Abouammo was arrested on November 5, 2019.

"These individuals are charged with targeting and obtaining private data from dissidents and known critics, under the direction and control of the government of Saudi Arabia," FBI Special Agent in Charge, John F. Bennett, said at the time.

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